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Las Cruces supports glass recycling in big way

Suzanne Michaels
Published 1:02 a.m. MT April 10, 2016

The increase means there is more free crushed glass available for residents to pick up at the SCSWA Recycling Center, 2855 W. Amador Avenue.

Brown bottles loaded into the SCSWA’s industrial-sized glass crusher will produce crushed amber glass for landscaping or other projects. The crushed glass is available by color for free pickup seven days a week at the SCSWA Recycling Yard, 2855 W. Amador.(Photo: Courtesy)

“We continue to have only two glass recycling drop-off points in Las Cruces,” said Tarkeysha Burton, recycling coordinator for the South Central Solid Waste Authority. “But the tonnage of glass bottles and jars being dropped off has doubled from 2014 to 2015.”

In 2014, every month residents dropped off eight to nine tons of glass bottles and jars; in 2015 the tonnage rose to an average 19 to 20 tons per month.

The increase means there is more free crushed glass available for residents to pick up at the SCSWA Recycling Center, 2855 W. Amador Avenue. The center is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends.

At the SCSWA Recycling Center, residents and businesses are welcome to drop off glass bottles and jars, or pick up the free crushed glass available in separate hoppers by color: green, amber, white (from clear glass), and blue.

Burton noted, “We remind everyone: labels are not a problem, but please remove bottle tops and corks, and please separate glass by color when dropping it off, so the crushed glass product we offer back free to the community maintains its integrity and its true color.”

The second drop-off location for glass is the Recycling Yard just outside the Old Foothills Landfill — open 24 hours a day — at 555 S. Sonoma Ranch Blvd.

Green Connections is submitted by the South Central Solid Waste Authority, managing recyclables, solid waste, and fighting illegal dumping for residents and businesses in the city and county. You can reach the SCSWA at 575-528-3800 or visit www.SCSWA.net